Give Enough
by gogogeisha
Summary: AU, it's the height of the First Contact War and the Turians have attempted to invade Earth to try and subdue the hostile Humans. Garrus and Shepard are enemies and forced to rely on one another for survival. What will become of our heroine and hero as they learn that friendship and love isn't always along allied lines.
1. Tiptoe

**This is just an idea I've been playing around while I try to finish my other stories and study for finals. I hope you enjoy, please review and critique! **

**Bioware owns all. **

The turians had invaded Earth... And Staff Lieutenant Vienne Shepard was stuck in the shit, as they said. A small base remained fighting off the turian encampment somewhere near Tacoma, Washington. The turians had been spot on in trying to take the Pacific Northwest in an attempt to cripple the Alliance Navy. They would have succeeded had the early warning system not alerted the top Brass in just enough time to save their own hides, leaving the troops to surrender, fight, or die where they were.

Shepard wasn't surprised in the least. A military that would experiment on their own would certainly abandon their own for the "Greater Good".

_She woke, screaming, as the doctors prodded her yet again – Needles, so many needles. They kept saying things like "super-soldier" and "physically superior", but all she wanted was to go home. She didn't need to be superior or super! Another round of shots followed by more intense training... The other kids were starting to look at her funny. _

_Surgical implants to increase strength and control... Flexibility and assassination techniques trained in daily. _

_A superior killing squad._

Shepard pulled herself from her thoughts and forced herself to get dressed. It was time to go scouting for supplies. She promised herself that she would risk going to the mall to get more clothes – her gear was starting to get holes and with the winter approaching she would need something better.

The one thing she could thank whatever Gods existed for was that General Brackus had allowed military uniform to go by the wayside, kind of. It was a move born of pure necessity – they were no longer getting assistance from outside the Hot Zone. Their mere existence was due to scouts infiltrating the dilapidated and forgotten stores in the city and taking whatever they could carry. It was the one concession the General had made throughout his rise to control of the small enclave.

On a good day the man was an ass, on a bad... Well, Shepard thought wryly, the man was someone akin to a North Korean Dictator. Humor was the only way Shepard got through each day despite the vast amount of trouble her humor garnered for her on a daily basis. She swore her file was at least five pounds heavy with disciplinary forms... And equally heavy with records of her achievements and awards.

She was the proverbial thorn in the General's side – a title she wore with pride. She got the job done, in her own way and on her own time. It was what she was trained to do and it was just too bad the personality training hadn't taken as well. Shepard clicked her tongue as she pulled herself once again out of her musings and strapped her combat boots on over her jeans.

It was time to put the millions of dollars spent on her to good use.

* * *

Garrus sighed as he stood watch over the vast battle-made valley between the encampment and the human base. It was getting cold and it was almost always raining. He hated this planet.

He was looking forward to the scouting mission scheduled later, at least then he could move around and warm up his limbs. It would be a good opportunity to get to know his new squad members that were flown in early that week. The humans had managed to pick off a few of his youngest soldiers and he was anxious to get these new recruits up to speed.

Looking over at Solana, his sister and second in command, he let his sub-harmonics trill with his impatience. Her returning trill was one of agreement and Garrus grunted in response. This planet was a shit-hole... At least this part of it. Garrus couldn't honestly comment on the rest since this was the only part he had been to. The mud was starting to cake onto his armor and he doubted that it would ever fully come off. Something about this planet stuck with you.. and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Suddenly Garrus' omni-tool alarm went off signally that it was time to get ready for the mission. Motioning for Solana to follow Garrus made his way back to the barracks, saluting the oncoming guard who was already waiting to replace him.

It was quick enough work getting the new soldiers up to speed with their mission – scout the surrounding city and try to root out any humans and recon the area to make sure reinforcements weren't coming. It was a simple enough task, one that was becoming increasingly less eventful as they had captured a good portion of the city's inhabitants... Or killed those that would not comply.

Garrus had mapped out a nice grid for them to recon that day, it included a large shopping center and market area. There were a lot of closely packed houses in the area and they had some reports of activity in the area. Garrus wasn't expecting a lot of resistance. At this point many of the humans they came upon surrendered fairly easily as they were hungry and supplies were dwindling.

Strapping on his sniper rifle and sidearm Garrus gave his squad a once over before stepping through the perimeter gates and towards his objective.

* * *

Shepard adjusted her backpack for what felt like the 100th time as she crouched under a tree at the top of a berm separating her from the mall. The weather was in her favor as far as cover was concerned... But nothing short of a blizzard would help her get across the battered freeway unseen if there were hostiles in the vicinity.

Looking over her surroundings a final time she inhaled deeply before quickly moving to her feet and sprinting across the open space. Effortlessly she hopped over the median and dodged remnants of vehicles to get to the other side and scramble up the steep slope. Once there, she stopped again briefly and listened for any sign that she had been spotted.

Sighing softly as she marked the lack of voices, gunfire or sound of armored feet hitting the pavement Shepard brought her attention to her next obstacle... The empty parking lot...

It had taken Shepard minutes to traverse the parking lot after she was sure that no eyes were on her and get herself into the relative safety of the mall. Her first stop was the food court to see if there were an non-perishable items that had yet to be looted from the pantries and then she was going to do some wardrobe shopping. Business first, pleasure second afterall!

* * *

Garrus thought he had spotted movement near the door of the large building, but he was unsure if it was a human or the rain playing havoc with his instruments. Either way, he was going to explore that building and all the movement did was put him on high alert.

As he and his team systematically made their way across the vast empty, paved area between the street and the building and through a set of side doors Garrus found himself filled with a sense of foreboding. This building had too many small, segmented stores that would be easy cover for an attack.

Breathing through his nose, Garrus set his visor to locate heat signatures... But quickly found it entirely too distracting since a variety of wildlife had apparently taken hold within the building. The wildlife was small, but the constant ticks and movements of small red blurs were keeping him from really paying attention to his surroundings. He was going to have to go the natural route and stick to smells and his eyes. Removing his helmet, he waved his team on and began to search out his prey.

* * *

Shepard hardly had any real luck finding any good food stuffs, but she wasn't really surprised. Afterall, who wouldn't make for the mall at the first sign of an invasion, Shepard thought sarcastically. Over-confidently, Shepard made her way to a few of the clothing stores and started to shop for the perfect post-apocalypse garb. Mainly boots, pants, tops, and undergarments. Truthfully, all Shepard really wanted was a good bra. Hers had bit the metaphorical dust ages ago and she was really getting tired of the shapeless military issued poor excuse for a sports bra that she had been reduced to wearing constantly.

With a pleased hum Shepard secured her pack and was preparing to shove off from the mall when she hear the tell-tale noise of armored steps, synchronized and much too heavy for even a heavy human soldier. Holding perfectly still Shepard tried to gauge their distance but the mall's acoustics were throwing her estimations out of whack.

She needed to get the fuck out of dodge and fast. Quickly singling out the door that was the access to the catacombs of the mall – the easiest way for her to move around hopefully unseen... If they didn't follow her, otherwise then it would be a bottleneck of a fight. Shepard just made out the form of a large turian in blue as she darted towards the door at full bore. Whipping the door open, she bolted through the store's storage area and made her way through the door that led to the hallways. She didn't even pause a second to look back to see if she was spotted... Times like this demanded an immediate and hasty retreat.

* * *

Garrus probably wouldn't have noticed the human female had she not bolted for a door at the rear of the store. As it was, he immediately took chase and ordered his team to follow his lead and watch his back. He was a good ways behind the seemingly slight dark haired female that had taken off through a series of doors into a long hallway. He wasn't inclined to shoot the human for simply fleeing, and she hadn't opened fire on him yet, so he was simply in retrieval mode.

Garrus really should have shot to incapacitate her and he realized this too late. It wasn't until he had gained a good amount of distance on her that the realization struck him... In fact, even as she turned slightly and tossed something over her back he still hadn't thought of stopping his pursuit. No... It wasn't until he caught a glimpse of what the object was that he realized he should have just shot the human. Garrus ran faster and more desperately, calling for his team to fall back as far as they could since he had separated himself a good distance from them as well.

Garrus barely registered the grenade going off until he was flung forward and his world rushed to black.

* * *

Shepard really hadn't thought her plan through very well, as was evident in her current predicament. It's not like Shepard had ever really explored all of these back hallways and as she looked on the dead end she just found herself, she really wished she had. She winced as she flung her torn backpack down onto the ground to get it off of her back. Her shoulder was absolutely killing her and some of the contents of her bag has spilled out and become one with the rubble. A piece of the concrete ceiling tiles had clipped her shoulder as she tried frantically to avoid the fallout from the grenade.

Shepard looked up at the cracks in the ceiling and was instantly grateful that this mall was only one story high – she hated the dark and at least this way there was light coming in... and rain. Taking stock of her surroundings Shepard nearly let out a surprised yelp as she noticed that her pursuer was trapped with her... and apparently still breathing. She should just kill him quickly and get it over with she thought as she went back to her bag to get her pistol out... She certainly couldn't overpower him with a bum shoulder.

Her pistol was missing. Shepard started flinging the remaining contents of her pack around as she dug to the bottom, only to discover that her pistol must have been underneath the food and clothes and therefore one of the first things to be lost in the explosion. Sighing, she looked back to her new cellmate only to note that he was in a completely different position... The attack right behind her back position.

Instinctively Shepard threw her backpack at the turian to attempt to distract him before dropping down and narrowly missing a claw to the head. As she did so, she brought her leg up and landed a kick in the turian's midsection causing him to stumble back a few paces. Shepard barely had enough time to pull herself back up for another attack when the turian was pulling out his pistol. Without thinking, Shepard spun on heal and brought her foot up to attempt to kick the pistol out of her assailant's hand.

He managed to grab her foot with his free hand and with a guttural growl he tossed her to the side and into the wall. She swore she could hear the concrete crack behind her shoulders as she connected with the building. Barely allowing herself to refill her lungs with air, she threw herself at the turian and managed to get a luck hit with her hand on his wrist causing him to release his hold on the gun enough to allow her to take it from him. Before she could train the gun on him he was back on her, however. Grappling, punching and kicking each other over the firearm the two struggling a long while over possession of the gun.

Shepard narrowly dodged a few swipes of his claws, only getting caught once on her side, her wound seeping blood. The turian dodged most of her punches and kicks and Shepard only made contact a few times. One was enough to cause his mouth to bleed and she took solace that she wasn't the only one bleeding.

Sometime during their struggle, the gun has slipped from both of their hands and had crashed down to the ground. Neither went for the gun as they were distracted with trying to beat the tar out of one another. No, it wasn't until they both heard the sickening crunch of armor on metal that they paused a moment to look down at the turian's foot on the gun... Crushing a part of the firing mechanism and rendering it useless.

The turian brought his gaze back up to Shepard and his mandibles fluttered as he reaching on to his back... Pulling out his sniper's rifle. Shepard gulped then, she really couldn't keep fighting him like this. She was twice injured and her stamina was dying quickly, probably from the blood loss. She took a step back from him as he trained his weapon on her and Shepard closed her eyes waiting for him to fire on her.

When nothing happened, Shepard dared to open one eye and noticed the turian looking furiously over his weapon... And then she noticed it – it was damaged. Probably from the explosion and subsequent hallway demolition that she had caused. She barked out a laugh and fell onto her ass in exhaustion. If he made another move towards her she would defend herself, but for now she just wanted to rest.

The turian let out a string of hard words and gestured to her wildly as he began to pace. It was really quite comical to her even though she had no clue what he was saying and she couldn't help but chuckle at the rather intimidating alien before her apparently having a temper-tantrum.

* * *

Garrus was beyond furious. First, he doesn't fire at the female and then she lodges a grenade at him. He doesn't know if any of his team was injured because his coms were completely shot due to the explosion and he could swear he had some metal cylindrical piece of metal jutting out of his thigh. Then he notices the female frantically digging through her pack and he tried to get the drop on her... But oh no, she just had to be a damned good fighter who was apparently only armed with a single grenade. Probably something she had found while looting other buildings because she certainly didn't look like any of the Human soldiers he had seen in the past. No uniform, no weapons... But damn could she kick.

He had decided enough was enough and it was time to wound the female enough to get her to calm down and submit, but once again nooo, she wasn't about to let that happen. Hit after hit and his head was starting to swim. He had gotten her good with one swipe but she immediately landed a punch on the side of his face and it had caused his mandible to stab into the side of his face plating and cause a small crack. And then he stepped on his own damn gun! Spirits damn this little Human female!

Enough was enough, Garrus went for his sniper rifle and before he could even take a shot he realized it had been smashed beyond use by the explosion. In what was probably his least turian and least professional move of his career, Garrus began to vent and curse at his enemy.

"You useless little pyjack piece of shit look what you've caused!"

He watched her fall onto her backside on the ground and simply stare at him as he ranted and gestured to the irritating creature threatening to strangle her and place her on a spike for the rest of her kind to see. Then... She started to laugh at him. He stopped immediately and just stared at the woman as she slumped her shoulders and laughed at him.

His adrenalin fell as well as his immediate desire to send her to meet her ancestors and he followed her lead and ungracefully fell onto his ass. He couldn't help but laugh with her... This was the most ridiculous moment of Garrus' life, he'd wager.

"Truce, for now, human."

Even knowing that the human wouldn't understand him, he hoped the meaning of his statement would still bridge the language barrier between the two. To his great surprise and consternation she replied back in weak turian.

"Deal."


	2. Hear Me

A million questions had ran through Garrus' mind when the human spoke in his native tongue to him... Albeit badly. As a rule, no one had taught humans how to communicate and the translators tended to be reserved for the human leaders in an attempt to foster diplomatic relations... Which so far wasn't working.

He was dumbstruck for a moment while the human moved to lay down more fully. He was more taken aback by the fact that she had seemed to instantly trust that he wouldn't attack her again. He HAD given his word to truce, but from his experience humans were not a trusting species... But here she was, laying down, and really not paying much attention to him.

Finally, he found his words and the most imperative question bubbled forth.

"Where did you learn Turian?"

He spoke slowly since her early vocalization seemed unpracticed. She probably wouldn't understand him if he spoke to fast. She seemed to consider her answer for a moment before responding, but her response startled him more than anything – when he figured out what she had meant to say.

"I was trained by a turian. He was a friend."

He tried not to get hung up on the fact that she sounded like a child when she spoke, or that she had said trained instead of taught. Instead he focused on the words turian and Friend. He had not heard of humans and turians branching over the friendship barrier yet, especially since his people were attempting to invade their planet...

A snap decision was made then, he wasn't even really aware he had made it. He moved closer to her and attempted to look at her wounds without actually touching her – he wasn't sure she'd be alright with that just yet. He was going to need her help to get out of here and if she was already inclined to be friends with turians, he was going to take advantage of that.

Garrus had never been a fan of the war with humans, from what he had witnessed, they were unique and a varied species... He wasn't so prideful as to not befriend one – especially one who appeared to already be inclined to be friends with turians.

* * *

Shepard eyed the turian suspiciously as he moved closer to her. He raised his hands up in a defensive posture and apparently attempted to convey that he meant no harm. At this point she really was in no position to ward him off if he decided to attempt to attack her again. Besides, her side straight fucking hurt.

He seemed to be looking over her wound and she raised an eyebrow at him... She didn't count her luck to meet two friendly turians in a war time... But, his behavior reminded her of Nihlus.

_As per most days in this blasted part of the country, it was raining. Most of her squad had been slaughtered in a surprise attack by a large group of turian commandos. Caught completely fucking off guard! _

_Shepard cursed as she trudged her way to a small cabin buried in the woods where she had fled. She had been shot in the back shoulder and she swore she could cook an omelet on blazing skin. Her military training kicked in as she approached the building, cautiously scouting around the area to see if there were any hostiles – whether they be human or otherwise... _

_Satisfied that there was no one else, she entered the single room dwelling. Before she could really take stock of everything in the building, she was knocked over by a large... thing... barreling through the door. She tried to jump back up, but her shoulder had had enough and she ended up flopping over and pointing her pistol at the intruder._

_She was greeted by a red faced turian with white markings. She gulped as she raised her weapon and pulled the trigger... Only to find that she was out of ammo. In her desperation to save her squad, she had unloaded unnecessarily. It wasn't the first time she had lost so many, but it never got any easier. The turian chuckled at her predicament and clocked her in the head with enough force to render her unconscious. _

_It seemed like hours later when she awoke... Her shoulder bandaged and a fire raging in the shottily constructed fireplace. She was on a sleeping mat close enough to the fire to overheat her. She threw the blanket she was covered with off with enough force to startle the other, forgotten, inhabitant of the single room house. _

_The turian jumped and then chuckled... He said something to her that she of course didn't understand. It seemed patronizing. He offered her some water, which she reluctantly took. She figured that if he had meant to kill her he wouldn't have bandaged her shoulder... She kept a close eye on all of his movements, silently wondering what his intentions were for her... She figured he was like most soldiers and not given a translator so she just started to vocalize her concerns._

"_What are you going to keep me alive and torture me? I don't know what good I would do you, just a every day soldier. Or maybe your one of those kinky folks who like to capture the enemy and have your way with them? Well I swear to all that is holy I will cut your dick off if I see it!"_

_Before she could really continue, he started full-bore laughing at her. She just sat there, stunned. He had apparently understood her... She didn't really like that... One-way communication. But, apparently the surprises were not over. _

"_You are a feisty one, aren't you... While I admit, you do have a supportive waist and a good amount of fight in you, sex isn't really my prerogative right now..."_

_Her jaw went slack as he spoke Human Common to her. She wasn't aware of any turians really being taught Common. She just sat there and stared at him dumbly before fumbling to ask what his intentions were._

"_Well, I figured some small, injured human wasn't really much of a threat... and I was feeling charitable. Besides, I'm going to be stuck on your planet for a little while – might as well observe a human as closely as I can."_

_He tweaked his mandible in such a way that Shepard was certain he was smirking at her. Her cheeks reddened with indignation... She was not some pet he could simply observe... Before she could really start another indignant rant she felt herself sway. Fever. From her wound. Her eyes closed a bit as she tried to recollect her equilibrium._

_Before she fell completely over, the turian had moved like lightening to her side and supported her down gently._

"_Now don't go ruining all of my fantastic medical work by ripping those stitches in your shoulder... What's your name, female?"_

_Without really thinking, Shepard mumbled out her first name. The turian smiled at her, at least she thought it was a smile. She couldn't detect any malice in his eyes as hers closed... She heard him say something along the lines of "pleasure to meet you" and that his name was Nihlus before she succumbed to her fever and fell into a fitful sleep. _

* * *

_Nihlus helped Shepard recover. The entire time prodding her for her opinions on the war and turians... They were both surprised to find similarity in much of how they felt about everything. She believed the war was pointless and based off of an accident. Nihlus felt the same. They both felt that the other species listened too much to their superiors and not enough of their own intuitions. _

_The spent hours grilling each other over their pasts. Shepard learned about the council and Spectres. Nihlus learned of a country known as France and of Human politics. Nihlus originally had no real intentions to help Vienne more than a few days... But he found himself fascinated with everything she said. She got more and more open with him and they fell into an easy friendship. _

_Nihlus admitted to himself that he was attracted to the human... She reminded him of an asari commando he had once had a fling with. But, she was so unique... and had so many marks on her body. Some seemed decidedly artistic, others were obvious scars of war... But their species hadn't been at war long enough to have such scars be healed completely. Some times when he asked a question, her eyes would darken and she would get quiet... Nihlus felt that she was hiding something, something about her superiors and her unusual healing speed and strength. _

_Days turned into weeks and neither seemed quick to leave the small cabin in the woods. Nihlus found himself teaching Vienne how to speak basic turian, about customs and history. She seemed so enthralled... He found it so endearing. _

_One day Nihlus was pinged by his partner, Saren... It was time for them to meet at their rendezvous point. He looked over the sleeping Vienne... They had started sleeping side by side as they talked late into the night while she healed. She was almost completely healed in the span of a few weeks when a shot like that should have caused her to be incapacitated for a few months. He found himself stroking a finger over her cheek and pushing her dark hair out of her face..._

_She had the most amazing blue eyes he had ever seen and before he knew what he was doing his forehead had touched hers... He inhaled her scent... and then left. He looked back a few times... If only to cement these weeks in his memory. He would search her out when this war was over. They would see if a human-turian relationship could work._

* * *

Shepard pulled herself out of her memories and stared at the stormy blue eyes of the turian in front of her. She found his mannerisms comforting... and she let him check her wounds. Let him bandage them...and she noticed that he, too, had a wound. Sighing, she patiently laid still as he dressed her wounds. As soon as he was done, she slowly moved and motioned to his thigh.

"Your turn."

She wasn't sure she had said what she meant, but he seemed surprised and sat back to allow her access... She looked over the wound and grimaced slightly. She wasn't sure turians could get tetanus, but either way it was going to get infected. She motioned for him to remove his armor, and he slowly complied, all the while watching her closely and intently. She grabbed some medigel and motioned to him to see if it was safe to use. He seemed confused at first, but then nodded after it dawned on him what she was asking.

Cleaning the wound with water, she made a make-shift drainage line with some supplies that managed to remain in her pack and were still salvageable after she threw everything everywhere looking for her pistol. Satisfied the wound was clean, she slathered the gel into the wound and tightly bound it with the remaining gauze roll the turian had used on her.

Sitting back, she winced a bit as she tried to find a comfortable position for herself, allowing the dressing to do its work.

* * *

To say that Garrus was surprised by the turn of the events would be an understatement. He went from trying to capture, then injure the human... then possibly kill her... To them dressing each others wounds. She seemed to take great care in his wound care and he felt slightly humbled that she had been able to move past the previous incident so quickly.

If he was a wagering man he would have bet that her previous experience with whoever taught her turian Common was the reason she was so easily swayed from defender to caregiver. He eyed her closely as he took into account her physical appearance...

Long, even for a human, dark brown hair... It was disheveled due to their confrontation but was still obviously in good condition... Or at least he assumed it was. It looked ok. She had striking blue eyes, almost the colors of his markings. Every time he had seen a human up close they always seemed to have brown or subdued eye colors. From what little he could see of her skin, she was a tanner human than he was accustomed to seeing. He most commonly saw them in pasty white or a dark brown skin coloration. He wasn't sure if it was a standard or not, but either way it seemed unique to him. She had marking all over her body, some were obviously scars from something or another, but her shoulder and arm seemed to be covered in colorful artistc markings. He had thought that they were called tatus... or tatoos... He wasn't sure.

Overall, she seemed petite for a human warrior. She was maybe five foot six and couldn't have weighed very much. When he threw her it took hardly any effort. She seemed content to just sit there in silence for a little bit while they both collected their thoughts on the change of events. Finally, he posed the second most imperative question...

"What's your name?"

She smiled a bit and opened an eyelid slightly to look at him. What he could only guess was a playful smirk crossed her face as she asked him to tell her his name first.

"Garrus, Garrus Vakarian."

She nodded slightly and dispatched with the common turian pleasantries of "Pleasure to meet you", yadda yadda and then he heard the answer to his question. Something he didn't realize he wanted to know so badly.

Vienne, her name was Vienne.


	3. All Eyes

Shepard awoke with a start, she had been dreaming of Nihlus again... She firmly blamed the sleeping turian sharing the room with her.

Grumbling, Shepard got up and gingerly stretched out her joints... She was sore from the explosion, though it wasn't something unfamiliar to her – the soreness, that is. She'd felt worse after some of her "training program".

Shaking her head at her own thoughts, she moved around their prison and tried to figure out the best way to escape...

They would need to work together there was no two ways about it. The only problem with that would come with whether or not the turian... Er, Garrus, wanted to cooperate with her. It wasn't so much cooperation that she needed, but trust. Trust was a lot to ask of someone with whom you had just become acquainted... After attempting to kill them.

She sighed and moved over to the rubble pile that was once a hallway. She attempted to move a few pieces of concrete to see how feasible it was for them to simply dig their way out.

After only moving a few of the smaller pieces, she decided that they would sooner die of starvation rather than dig themselves out within a reasonable amount of time. That and they would only grow weaker as their food stores depleted... She wasn't sure about Garrus, but she only had a few protein bars in her pack that managed to survive the events of the previous day. Garrus didn't seem to be carrying a pack with him so she had to assume he didn't have much food either.

A flutter of wings caught her attention and brought her eyes to the ceiling. There were some holes that they could possibly get through. One of them would have to be hoisted up and while she could probably get the turian up to the hole, she wasn't sure she'd be much use to anyone afterward as her back would most likely have collapsed from the effort.

Him hoisting her up seemed unlikely, but it was pretty much their only option. She could go find some rope to help him climb up. She never thought of abandoning him to his fate after she got free. They got into this predicament together and she would honor her promise to a truce. With the truce they were as good as friends, and she never left a friend behind if she could help it.

* * *

Garrus woke slowly from his dream. He wasn't sure what he was dreaming about, he had no memory of it other than a lingering feeling that it was new. Something he had never considered before.

A noise in the room reminded Garrus of where exactly he was and why. The woman, Vienne, was moving about the room doing spirits know what. He decided to observe her for a few moments before alerting her that he was awake.

She was quietly moving around and obviously looking for an obvious escape route. He figured she found none when she gave up trying to move a rather large piece of rubble. Then, he watched as she looked towards the ceiling after an animal made some fluttering noise.

It struck him then, as she brought her face to the sunlight, that even to a turian she was attractive. Clear complexion, startling bright eyes, and a solid yet feminine frame. Wait, had he just considered her attractive? No. He was merely making a passive observation. He would never consider a human attractive enough for...

He shook his head and cleared his thoughts. She wasn't even a friend let alone a possible...

Garrus smacked himself in his face to stop his thoughts from materializing and in the process announced to Vienne that he was awake. She looked at him curiously as he rubbed the side of his mandible that he had just smacked, trying to lessen the pain.

He grunted something that sounded like a greeting and tried to look anywhere but at her. She seemed content to let him wake up and get situated at his own pace while she stood on the far side of the room while attempting to look unassuming.

He wondered if the human was ever unassuming.

* * *

Shepard allowed Garrus to do his own thing for a few minutes while she collected her thoughts on how to ask him to go along with her plan. Besides, he looked like he needed the minute to collect himself after he had loudly smacked himself in the face. Even with all of that body-plating she doubted it felt very good.

After a few minutes she cleared her throat and brought Garrus' attention to her. She smiled a bit and tried to work out the translation of her question.

"You hoist me up, I get rope and help you."

She knew it was broken at best, but damnit it's not like she had a lot of practice anymore. She was fairly confident the meaning went through anyways since Garrus at first seemed amused by her question and then... Well she didn't know what he looked like really but if she had to guess... She would say he looked perturbed.

"You want me to push you up there and then _trust_ you to come back and save me?! After you blew me and my team up!?"

She flinched as she worked through the angry words to discern his meaning. She hadn't really expect him to be dancing and singing a chorus at her plan and she couldn't really blame him for his disbelief, but she had hoped he would be a little more receptive.

* * *

Garrus couldn't believe the human had suggested he help her up and then went on faith that she would come back to help him. Yeah, sure. She'd so do that.

He watched her sigh and move to sit in another corner, leaving him to his silence. She didn't deny his unspoken accusation, but he wasn't sure if that was because she didn't know how or she couldn't refute it.

Either way, he wasn't about to go with her first idea without trying to think of some of his own.

Garrus moved around the room and studied the layout, the rubble and the ceiling. If she had another grenade she could just put it near the wall and they could hope that it was an exterior wall... And they could hope that the rest of the room didn't cave in on them.

With the human construction he couldn't be sure where the support beams were to try and minimize the threat to them. He hated human construction.

Garrus made his own attempt to move some of the rubble away from where the hallway had been, but he couldn't make the large piece of concrete budge either. Another reason to hate human construction.

No, it appeared that the only way they were getting out was through the hole in the ceiling. And he was going to have to push her through it, spirits be damned.

He was going to have to trust her.

"Fine... We'll do it your way." He ground out to her, not missing the way she jerked her head in his direction to look at him in a way that he could only assume meant that she was surprised.

After a moment she nodded and climbed up the rubble a bit, motioning for him to come closer.

This was going to be degrading. A human on his shoulders.

It was a good thing they didn't need to communicate for this part, it was fairly straightforward. He was sure she wouldn't appreciate the strings of cursing that he was growling under his breath.

As she jumped onto his shoulders from the rubble and he grunted with the effort to get her in a position that she could climb from, Garrus was not above noticing how light she was.. nor how soft she felt.

He shook his head again. Human. No. He needed to get laid or to spar, this was not going to work otherwise.

He helped to steady her as she stood on his shoulders and reached for the lip of the hole. She ended up having to jump slightly to secure her hold. Garrus couldn't understand why such short creatures would build such tall hallways.

Garrus let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he saw her start to hoist herself up over the lip of the concrete. He watched her as she gracefully pushed herself up and was about to hook her leg over the edge as the ceiling gave way.

Both her and a large chuck on the ceiling fell and Garrus rushed to simultaneously catch her and throw both of them out of the way from the concrete.

Spirits damned human construction.

* * *

Shepard was just marveling at how the day was going in her favor when she went to hook her leg over the lip of the roof. She was just thinking that she shouldn't be fantasizing about the turian helping her to climb up onto the roof and about how he smelled nice once she got closer to him. She was just thinking of where she could find some rope, when the ceiling collapsed with her on it. She instinctively bit back a scream as she fell and was quickly trying to orient her body in such a way that she wouldn't end up under the concrete slab.

Before she really had time to orient herself, however, strong armored arms were around her and jerking her backwards. She fell with a grunt on top of the turian, who also grunted with the force of their fall.

She really couldn't bring herself to move right away and he didn't immediately shove her off. She sighed and said mostly to herself "Well, we're fucked." It looked like a lot of digging was in her future.

* * *

The crash from the collapse alerted the search party. The group moved cautiously around the building looking for a way to get to the roof, they would probably have a better vantage point from up there. T

There leader holstered his gun as they came upon vertical stairs and made his way skyward.

* * *

Garrus wondered if the human was ever going to move. He grunted again for good measure to try and insinuated that she _should_ move. It was all he could do because he, for some reason, felt himself unable to verbally ask her.

She moved abruptly and scrambled to the corner opposite him, her face becoming red. He wondered what that meant, he had never heard of humans changing color before. He was about to say something to her when he heard footsteps approaching.

Raising his hand to her he made sure she knew to be quiet. They were both in danger until they knew who was on the roof. If it was humans, he was in danger. If it was turians, it would be her. He wasn't sure how he felt about her being killed or captured at the present.

The steps were too heavy for humans and he motioned for her to get as out of sight as she could. There wasn't a lot of options, but at least if she kept still they would be unlikely to see her and Garrus had a better chance of distracting them in to not noticing the human.

Garrus moved to the center of the hole in order to be the first thing that caught whoever it was' attention right away.

A shadow loomed over the hole and Garrus gulped when he looked up into familiar green eyes.

* * *

Shepard was sure she was about to be captured. She knew as well as Garrus did that whoever was on the roof was turian. This did not bode well for her and she tried her best to blend in to the darkest corner of the room.

She silently thanked Garrus as he moved to block her from sight as much as possible, she appreciated the effort even though it would probably be pointless.

She wondered briefly if he would get in trouble for not killing her – she knew she would if their roles were reversed right now.

Shepard gulped and held her breath as the shadow fell over Garrus. He seemed to relax minutely before tensing again. He had recognized whoever it was... And he wasn't sure that was a good thing.

Subconsciously she pressed herself even harder against the wall, her nails digging in to her palms as she clenched her fists, preparing for a fight.

Garrus and the other turian spoke to each other briefly but she couldn't understand them, blood was rushing through her ears and was distracting her from their conversation.

Something caught her attention, however, something about the other turian. Without thinking she pushed herself off of the wall and craned her head to see the face of who was, no kneeling, near the edge of the hole.

Garrus jumped when he heard her moving and tried to signal to her to stay put without being obvious. It was a failed attempt since she didn't notice, all of her attention was skyward.

The other turian's gaze instantly went to her and for a split second he went for his weapon. He stopped when she spoke, her voice relieved and full of emotion.

"Nihlus..."


	4. Run

Garrus was incredulous. Vienne knew Nihlus – and apparently well with how Nihlus' subharmonics seemed to _coo_ when he laid his eyes on Vienne. Garrus didn't like it.

Before he could really stop himself, Garrus' own subharmonics chimed in with a steady "backthefuckoff" growl. He quickly cut himself off, but not before Nihlus quickly removed his attention from Vienne back to Garrus. Well, Garrus' plan to get him to stop paying attention to the woman worked.

"Garrus, I was looking for you. Your team had mentioned that you had... gone missing... At around this part of the shopping center."

Nihlus dropped down some rope for Garrus to climb up. Garrus was wondering what his plan for Vienne was but before he could voice the question the answer was made apparent.

"Garrus, go meet your team down that far ladder. They'll want to make sure you're ok. Your sister has been particularly vocal about how quickly I should find you."

Nihlus' mandibles fluttered in amusement and before Garrus could confirm or deny the order/request Nihlus was shooting out more "requests".

"Go on back to the base, I have another reason I wanted to speak to you and now it appears you've given me yet _another_ reason to seek you out."

Garrus didn't miss the not-so-subtle way Nihlus moved his eyes back down to where Vienne was still hidden. Garrus wasn't sure he wanted to leave the two alone, but it wasn't like he really had a whole lot of a choice about it. Nihlus was his superior – bothin the military sense and with the counsel.

Grudgingly Garrus nodded and made his way back to the ladder. He was lost in his own thoughts about the situation he found himself that he hadn't realized that he had traversed the rest of the roof and had climbed down the ladder. In fact it wasn't until a curled, feminine fist met with his gut that he allowed his thoughts to shatter back to the present.

Solana had a way with "hellos" and "I was worried about yous".

* * *

Shepard hadn't moved since she first realized that their rescuer was Nihlus. It hadn't escaped her notice the weird way Garrus had reacted towards the whole situation – but she really didn't have time to process it. She chalked it up to some weird turian male thing.

She found herself rooted to the spot as Nihlus talked to Garrus, waiting for some indication that it was safe for her to... Well, do anything. She was confident enough in front of Garrus despite their short time of being "friendly", but she wasn't sure if there was anyone else up on the roof out of her line of sight.

Eventually Garrus stomped off and Shepard could tell by his footfalls that he wasn't happy – at least she thought that's what it sounded like. Turians didn't normally stomp despite their large size; they were usually quite quiet surprisingly enough.

Either way, Shepard was brought forth from her musings when Nihlus' form again crouched at the opening in the ceiling. Shepard wasn't really sure why she had felt such elation at seeing Nihlus again – she was quite put off when he had left without so much as a goodbye. She had thought they'd become friends while they were stuck in that cabin.

But what did she really know about how turians determined friendship?

Either way, she had felt momentary joy at seeing Nihlus again and that same joy was bubbling up to the surface again as he smirked down at her and lowered the rope again. She couldn't help returning the smirk as she proceeded to gingerly climb – her shoulder still hurt and her wounds from Garrus were smarting her as she hoisted her body weight up the distance.

It would have amazed Shepard had she considered how she knew Nihlus was smirking at her – prior to meeting Nihlus she was as functional at discerning turian facial expressions as a blind person was telling you what color the sky currently was. As it was, she didn't have long enough to deeply ponder her new advancing turian knowledge because as soon as she was within arms length of Nihlus he reached down and pulled her up and held her above the floor in a tight embrace.

Shepard returned the embrace and sighed as she smelled his familiar scent of woods and gun smoke. A scent she hadn't realized she had missed. Huh. She had missed Nihlus. The thought was a bit shocking – she wasn't supposed to be attached to an alien, an enemy. But she was, and more so than just a blasé friendship.

* * *

Nihlus was trying to control himself because while he would have experience in relationships with other species, Shepard most decidedly would not and he did not want to scare her off.

But spirits he was so glad to see her. He had been thinking about her a lot since the cabin and he had found himself missing her more than he was comfortable with. Any reservations he may have had, however, went flying out the window the moment she had said his name.

He had been looking for Garrus – he was going to sponsor him into the spectres and it did not do to have your future apprentice go missing in a shopping center after chasing after a human. He had been relieved to find Garrus unharmed and he had been shocked to find exactly who was trapped with him.

He wasn't surprised, however, that Vienne and Garrus had managed to apparently cohabit the same trap. She had that way about her. It was easy to like her. It was easy to feel like you could trust her. Spectres often had to make snap judgments about people based off of the vibes they got from them. Nihlus fancied himself a fairly good judge of character and he had easy judged Vienne to be a good person. Good people were inherently easy to get along with.

Nihlus couldn't really stop himself from crushing Vienne to himself as she got within arms length. Her scent had invaded his nostrils and he suddenly felt the need to remind himself that she was really there.

He didn't expect her to press her face against his neck and it nearly dropped him right then and there when she did. She couldn't know that the neck was such a _sensitive_ area on turians. He told himself this over and over again as he stared down at the top of her head as best he could.

Momentarily her grip on him tightened and she buried her face harder against his skin and he lost a measure of control. He fell gracelessly to sit on the ground and he buried his own face against her hair. His subharmonics trilled with a mixture of relief and adulation that she was embracing him like this and that he could be near her again.

Spirits he had never been this far gone for a woman he hadn't even bedded yet. He was in trouble.

* * *

Shepard held her breath as Nihlus fell backwards but then sighed contently as he continued to hold her close and even pressed his face to her hair.

It was only a few moments before Shepard remembered herself and jerked backwards to look around. Garrus was gone and there was no one else in sight. She also realized that she was effectively straddling Nihlus' lap and blushed profusely before moving to get off of him. He held her tighter and let out a... growl.

She looked up at his face and read something there she wasn't sure she was ready to face. Desire. The same desire she had been wrestling with just moments before.

Nihlus had moved one of his hands to her lower back and the other had slid up to the side of her face, forcing her to make eye contact and hold. She gulped and her blush deepened. She would be lying if she said this wasn't something she was curious about – but how feasible was it really? She wasn't even good with relationships with her own species let alone an alien one.

"Nihlus I..."

Before she could finish her sentence Nihlus had silenced her in a very human kiss. She was surprised at the feel of his pliant-but-not-quite-soft mouth plates against her lips. It was not an unpleasant feeling and she was certain she could get used to the differences. That is, until his tongue ran across her lower lip and even the Great Wall of China couldn't keep in her moan of surprise and pleasure.

Nihlus directed her hand to rest at the base of the back of his neck and he moaned in chorus with her as she griped him firmly. She knew this wasn't the place for something like this – there were too many opportunities for them to be found, but suddenly she couldn't give a rat's ass about that. These sensations were too sharp, too feral for her to be able to focus on any one thing.

* * *

Garrus felt like he shouldn't have left her alone with the spectre. Normally Garrus envied the spectres, wanted to be one of them. But right now he just wanted to shoot one.

Garrus couldn't really place a digit on why he didn't want to leave Nihlus alone with her human. Something about her stirred something in him that made him want to protect her. That must be it.

But then the fact that she seemed so pleased to see Kryik should put him at ease, right? Negative. It made him more irritable. More than a few times Garrus stopped walking towards the base and made to turn around. He just wanted to make sure Kryik wasn't hurting her, yeah.. He was concerned for her safety after she helped patch him up...

Solana made sure Garrus never actually went back to the shopping center. He still looked back religiously, making her wonder, but he eventually stopped making moves back towards the infernal place.

Just concerned with her safety...

* * *

Nihlus couldn't believe his ears. She was moaning right along with him and with the simplest of incentives. Then she moved her fingers over the base of his skull under his fringe and he had to restrain himself from going what Shepard had once called "full retard" over the situation.

Eventually, and hesitantly, he pulled her lips away from his and stared into her eyes. They were both breathing heavy and appeared to be on the verge of a mental lapse in judgment – if playing war of the tongues with the "enemy" wasn't enough of a lapse.

Even so he couldn't bring himself to full estrange himself from her. It felt too good, too much like something he had wanted but had previously been unwilling to openly admit to himself.

He found himself leaning towards her again, bringing his mouth close to her neck. Running his tongue over the smooth, soft skin, he growled again as she dropped her head to the side and opened her neck to him.

She couldn't know what this meant to him, what she was offering him. His body instantly reacted and he found himself running his teeth over her flesh.

It took every ounce of self control for him to pull back. The force of his feelings and desires scared him a little. He had never felt the need to take someone as a mate, not even ones he loved. But no one had been quite the enigma... No one had smelled so right, felt so right...

Again he had to snap himself out of it. She was looking at him with her big, beautiful blue eyes.

Spirits grant him strength! He had to complete his mission. He didn't have time for this... Spirits did he wish he had time for this.

"Vienne... It kills me to say this, but I have to go."

* * *

Shepard was sure she was about to engage in something only comics and stories fantasized about. Hell, she was sure that she was about to break every rule of engagement both spoken and unspoken about this war with the alien species.

But damnit, she didn't give a shit. What he was doing felt too good, made her feel something she had long since buried.

It was over too fast, and the abrupt change left her reeling. Still clothed and mind racing, Nihlus helped her to stand and followed suit. He was saying something about mission and duties.

Fuck duties!

She understood, however. The soldier in her understood more than the woman wanted to admit. She nodded as he spoke, half listening. Blood was rushing in her ears as she suddenly thought that maybe she had done something wrong.

Insecurity did not become her, she was no longer accustomed to it. Nihlus apparently noticed the change in her behavior and forced her to make eye contact with him. He brought her lips to his and allowed them to linger together in a gentle kiss.

She sighed as he ran off, obviously distancing himself from her before they re-engaged each other in... Well... That, again.

She had duties to complete too. She was a soldier, not some love-struck horny school girl. Like hell she wasn't horny. She needed a good book and a bath.

Trudging her way to one of the utility ladders, Shepard cursed under her breath as she went to find herself a new back pack, new supplies, and importantly a real bra.

She was affected one bit. Not. One. Bit.

Bollocks.


	5. Bloodstream

**Just a quick little chapter while I get back in to the spin of writing this story. Thanks for pushing me in to continuing this one! I enjoy writing it!**

**3**

Garrus was tracking with Nihlus. It was a weird feeling, following a spectre. Garrus couldn't say that it was an unwelcomed feeling. Despite his sister's vocal protests, he had jumped at the chance to train under Nihlus. Regardless of the fact that he had come back from the shopping center weeks ago smelling like Shepard.

He never smelled like the human again so Garrus was certain there wasn't anything physical going on… Yet. He wasn't sure it would stay that way and it bothered him. Why did it bother him?

His species had invaded a portion of her planet. Their collective species were attempting to kill one another. She wasn't supposed to be friendly with them as they weren't with her.

But here he was, wondering if she was alright and hoping that she hadn't wound up dead yet.

Nihlus was leading Garrus to the edge of the human compound. They were on a tree covered hill overlooking a courtyard. It wasn't a main part of the base and seemed to be used for storage and training. Nihlus had shared enough of the mission for Garrus to know that they were simply observing.

A shuttle had managed to slip through their blockade and they were tasked with finding out what the cargo was. They guessed that it was just more soldiers, but it seemed like a risky maneuver just for some soldiers.

* * *

Shepard had been too used to working on her own; having a squad here for her to babysit was obnoxious on a good day, but having a bunch of people who were enhanced the same ways she was happened to be downright obnoxious.

She had three people assigned under her; Alenko, Jenkins and Williams. Kaiden Alenko was a by-the-books fellow if she had ever met one. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't cite regulation every time she tried to do something. Ashley Williams was eager to be there, eager to speak her mind, and eager to kill aliens. Vienne didn't know what to think of her, really. She thought the alien hate, while justified, was a little psychotic but she enjoyed the fact that the woman called people on their shit.

Jenkins was just a kid and an overeager one at that. He was probably going to get himself killed, as morbid a thought as that was. He would rush out from cover too earlier in all of their training exercises and she didn't see that tactic working well for him in a real fight.

All three were altered just as she was. Alenko for his biotics, Williams for her strength, and Jenkins for movement and flexibility. They were the three to her one. She was surprised to see that the doctors had apparently tapered off their experimenting and decided that one enhanced trait per person was better.

Fuckers didn't give a shit about torturing the fuck out of her in the name of science and war-winning. Maybe that was why she didn't care so much about befriending the enemy and taking a less involved look at the entire situation. Not that she told anyone that she was friendly with the aliens… They didn't need to know that. She didn't need to spend another night in the brig to 'think about what she had done'.

God she hated this base and pretty much everyone on it.

She was always segregated, despite being the one that often went off to scout for supplies. She took most of the infiltration risks while everyone else just sat back and prettied themselves up for their praise on finding all the information.

Her and her team were heading to the make-shift training area to show off for the big wigs. She was going to make a show of it for once, she needed to instill some of the 'I am the motherfucking boss' in her new team. She didn't trust them yet and they didn't trust her. At the very least they needed to trust her abilities.

* * *

Nihlus and Garrus were well camouflaged in the tree line by the time there was movement in the base below. Four soldiers were escorted to the vacant area and appeared to be locked in. Without warning and the soldiers without their weapons security and battle droids started to pile in to the area.

A training simulation of some kind? Seemed a waste to kill off soldiers like this, especially when they didn't have many quality ones.

Just ask Garrus was going to ask Nihlus about the strange human behavior a loud and violent explosion rang.

One of the heavy mechs had just been obliterated by the smaller female soldier. Garrus looked down his scope to get a better view of her.

It was Vienne Shepard. She had the unmistakable blue aura of a biotic and had, without armor, decimated the mech. She looked bored and a little pissed. She gestured to her stunned compatriots to join in the battle… Exercise… Whatever the hell this was and they reluctantly listened.

She was a soldier and a damned effective one at that. Humans weren't supposed to have biotics and what was with this strength? He wasn't aware that humans could withstand forces like this.

The other woman seemed to be equally as strong but showed no sign of biotics. The taller man was obviously primarily a biotic and the other man was… Well… Nimble, for lack of a better word, and fast. He was able to traverse the battlefield quickly and pick off smaller targets efficiently. It was obvious who the main force was, and it was the woman he had been stuck with.

He wasn't sure what to think of her now. She was acting different; she seemed cold and calculating. Not at all the friendly and harmless looking woman who had exchanged pleasantries with him while dressing his wound.

Which was the real woman, he wondered, and was he going to have to kill her by the end of this?

* * *

Damnit, Vienne was exactly what he was supposed to be searching for. The humans had been experimenting on their own, and he had subject alpha in his possession twice now.

He had let feelings cloud his mission. He needed to find a way to get in to that base or get a message to her. He was certain she would meet up with him and it was more of a matter of convincing her to come with him rather than stay.

Though given her penchant for befriending the enemy, he didn't think she felt much loyalty to her own species. He couldn't say he would either if she had been subjected to the things their spy had reported was being done to some of their test subjects.

The nimble one had gotten overwhelmed with mechs – he wasn't working well within the team and seemed to get cocksure too quickly. Vienne had to take a hit for him from the last heavy mech and was sent flying in to a wall.

The wall crumbled around her and Nihlus was about to do… something, spirits know what he _could_ do, when she climbed out of the rubble looking shaken and furious. With one final charge and biotic flare the mechs were down and her team was knocked back.

Yelling instantly erupted from a tower where someone was observing the entire scenario. Vienne took one look upwards and sneered.

From what Nihlus could make out through the muffled loud speaker she was being reprimanded for not controlling her team. One of her team, the other woman, moved to respond and Vienne silenced her.

She was protecting them from something. The way she was standing with her back to the tower and the way she tensed when another order was given were telling in and of themselves. Her team collected themselves and watched as she raised her head high then walked straight for another portion of the base further down.

Nihlus motioned for Garrus to follow him. Sticking to their cover, Nihlus followed Vienne's progress as best he could. A large portion of the outer base wall was within sight of the forest covered hill – it was a popular scouting spot for the turians.

They never took sniper shots at anyone in the base because the humans had enough short-range artillery to demolish the hill and it was a damned good spot for spying. Turians didn't give up resources if they didn't have to.

Finally Vienne stopped in an area with small blocks cordoned off. It seemed like a barracks area only there were no ceilings. Punishment and exposure to the weather. It was probably more successful that way – if not more cruel.

The walls were tall and rimmed with spikes and what appeared to be sharpened wire… He doubted many had escaped.

Vienne was shoved in to one of the outdoor cells and left there. Judging from how casually she walked over to the cement bench and laid back he would guess that this was a rather normal event in her life.

They watched for hours trying to get a good idea on how long the 'punished' were left in these crude cells.

It was nighttime before they had to call their mission and head back in for new orders. This was supposed to be a scouting mission and nothing that was supposed to take more than a few hours out of their day.

She was still in the cell when they left.


End file.
